City of Peterborough men can take a break in comfort thanks to Porter strike, Craven crushes it again for the ladies

City were relegated from this division two seasons ago after struggling through to the Christmas break with barely a point to their name, but this time around they will greet the festive season sitting fourth in the table, four points off second place and a healthy 11 points from the relegation places.

A 1-0 win over Banbury at Bretton Gate on Sunday was hard-fought, but ultimately deserved with a goal from skipper Matt Porter in the first minute of the fourth quarter proving decisive.

That 10-yard bullet into the bottom corner opened up what had been a really tight encounter with City going close to claiming further goals while defending their own ‘D’ solidly.

City goalkeeper Cameron Goodey had made a brilliant stick save to stop the visitors scoring in the opening moments and the Banbury ‘keeper also made fine stops to thwart Gareth Andrew.

The win completed a double over Banbury and the National League now breaks until January 30.

Standings (all played 10): 1 Leek 26pts, 2 Oxford Hawks 20pts, 3 Norwich City 16pts, 4 City of Peterborough 16pts, 5 St Albans 15pts, 6 University of Nottingham 2nds 14pts, 7 Banbury 13pts, 8 Stourport 7pts, 9 Barford Tigers 5pts, 10 University of Birmingham 2nds 5pts.

Leaders City of Peterborough Ladies bounced back from their first East Division One North defeat of the season with a 3-1 home success over Norwich Dragons at Bretton Gate.

The city side maintained their advantage, by virtue of a superior goal difference, at the top ahead of their final game of the year at home to Norwich City on Saturday (Dec 6, 2.30pm). The visitors are one of only two sides to have taken points off City of Peterborough.

Imogen Mason fired City in front against the Dragons on 18 minutes, but there was a response before half-time. City top scorer Lily Craven then scored twice in the second-half to deliver victory.

Standings: 1 City of Peterborough P11 28pts, 2 Cambridge City 4ths P11 28pts, 3 Norwich Dragons P11 24pts, 4 Sudbury P11 24pts, 5 Cambridge South P11 22pts, 6 Norwich City P10 19pts, 7 Dereham P11 12pts, 8 St Neots P10 10pts, 9 Spalding P11 9pts, 10 Wisbech P11 7pts, 11 UEA P11 6pts, 12 Ipswich 2nds P11 3pts.

Fearsome forward Phil Martin struck a hat-trick as City of Peterborough 6ths took a three-point lead at the top of East Division Five with a 4-1 win over Cambs South. Martin has now scored 24 goals in just 10 appearances. Wayne Humphreys scored the other goal.

There’s plenty of local interest at the top of this table including City sevenths who were held to a 0-0 draw in St Ives, as well as the third teams of Wisbech and Bourne Deeping who beat Kettering thirds and Wisbech fourths 4-2 and 7-1 respectively. Pete Moisey hit a hat-trick for Bourne Deeping.

Bourne Deeping also beat Wisbech at first-team level as goals from Ben Brittain (2), Stuart Biggs, James Gregson secured a 4-2 success in Division Two.

And two goals from Simon Burnell delivered a 2-0 win for unbeaten leaders Bourne Deeping seconds over March in Division Four.

Division Four standings: 1 Bourne Deeping 2nds P11 29pts, 2 St Neots 2nds P10 26pts, 3 Pelicans 3rds P10 21pts, 4 Cambridge Nomads 2nds P11 18pts, 5 St Ives 3rds P11 16pts, 6 Cambridge City 6ths P11 16pts, 7 March 2nds P11 15pts, 8 Newmarket 2nds P11 13pts, 9 Cambridge South 4ths P11 13pts, 10 Cambridge City 5ths P11 9pts, 11 Spalding 3rds P11 5pts, 12 St Neots 3rds P11 0pts.

Division Five standings (all played 11): 1 City of Peterborough 6ths 28pts, 2 Kettering 3rds 25pts, 3 Wisbech 3rds 24pts, 4 Bourne Deeping 3rds 24pts, 5 City of Peterborough 7ths 23pts, 6 Cambridge South 5ths 15pts, 7 St Ives 4ths 15pts, 8 Pelicans 4ths 12pts, 9 Spalding 4ths 10pts, 10 Newmarket 3rds 7pts, 11 Wisbech 4ths 3pts, 12 Long Sutton 3rds 2pts.

Selected City results/scorers

Men: 2nds lost 1-3 to Bury St Edmunds (Ed Hales); 3rds lost 0-4 to Cambs Nomads; 4ths beat Ely 7-2 (Tom Wilson 2, Manny Patel 2, Simon Smith, Oli Daniels, OIly Smith); 5ths lost 2-4 to Cambridge South (Chris Hastings 2); 6ths beat Cambridge South 4-1 (Phil Martin 3, Wayne Humphreys); 7ths drew 0-0 v St Ives; Over 55s beat West Bridgford 4-2 (Wayne Humphreys, Frank Bothamley, Andy Smith, Paul Tancred).

Women: 2nds drew 1-1 v Cambs Nomads (Emily Desmond); 3rds drew 2-2 v Newmarket (Bea Faith, Clea Tranhame); 5ths drew 0-0 v Newmarket.

Wisbech results

Men: 1sts lost 2-4 to Bourne Deeping; 2nds lost 0-5 to Pelicans; 3rds beat Kettering 4-2 (Ciaran Lowe 2, Brodie Ellis, Elliott Peck); 5ths lost 1-7 to Bourne Deeping.

Ladies: 1sts lost 2-5 to UEA; 2nds beat March 4-1 (Amber Crossley-King 2, Emma Baker, Sam Pritchard); 3rds drew 1-1 v Haverhill (Rachel Rivers); 4ths drew 1-1 v 5ths (Zoe Parsons, Petra Crossley-King).

Bourne Deeping results

Men: 1sts beat Wisbech 4-2 (Ben Brittain 2, Stuart Biggs, James Gregson); 2nds beat March 2-0 (Simon Burnell 2); 3rds beat Wisbech 7-1 (Pete Moisey 3, James De Souza 2, Jason Purllant, Alfie Tarran); 4ths lost 1-3 to St Neots (Paul Blackler).